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1
Bring a large pot of abundantly salted water to a rolling boil. Add the cicoria and blanch until completely tender — no residual crunch or toughness at any point in the leaf. This is not a brief wilt; the greens must be fully cooked. Lift out and drain.
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2
Working in batches, take the drained cicoria in both hands and squeeze firmly, expelling as much water as possible. The mass should feel almost dry to the touch. Wet greens will steam rather than sauté and will not absorb the oil.
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3
Place the olive oil and sliced garlic together in a wide pan over low heat. Bring up slowly from cold, watching until the garlic turns pale gold at the edges and the oil is fragrant with it — this is where the dish lives or dies: the garlic must colour gently and evenly; any darkening toward brown must be caught immediately, and burnt garlic means starting again.
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4
Add the crumbled peperoncino to the oil and stir briefly until it blooms — the oil will take on an orange blush and a sharp, clean heat will rise from the pan.
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5
Add the squeezed cicoria. Raise the heat to medium and stir vigorously, turning the leaves continuously so that every part contacts the garlic oil. The cicoria is done when the leaves have absorbed the oil and collapsed into a silky, glistening tangle — no standing liquid should remain in the pan.
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6
Taste for salt, bearing in mind that the blanching water was already salted. Adjust only as needed, then serve immediately as a contorno.